Voting-machine.



No. 857,681. PATENTED JUNE 25, 1907.

0. E. SEIBEL.

VOTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNB15. 1906.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

a a IIIIII No. 857,681. PATENTED JUNE 25, 1907.

O. E, SEIBEL. VOTING MACHINE. APPLICATION IILED JUNE 15. mos.

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No. 857,681. PATENTED JUNE 25, 1907.

O. E. SEIBEL. VOTING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 15. 1906.

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No 857,681. PATENTED JUNE 25, 1907.

0. E. SEIBEL.

VOTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 15. 1906.

e SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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No. 857,681. PATENTED JUNE 25,. 1907'.

O. E. SEIBEL. I VOTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 111N315. 1906.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

. I I l I 61m OSCAR E. SEIBEL, OF BLOOMINGTON, ILLINOIS.

VOTING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 25, 1907.

Application filed June 15,1906. Serial No. 321,921.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR E. SEIBEL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bloomington, in the county of McLean and State of Illinois,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Voting-hiachines,of which the following is a specification.

My invention contemplates certain new and useful improvements in votingmachines, and in general character my improved machine embodies a seriesof push rods arranged to be actuated by the voter standing in front ofthe machine, push rod locking mechanism which automatically acts to holdthe pushedin rods in proper juxtaposition to the count ing mechanism,the releasing devices for said locking mechanism being under the controlof one of the judges of elections, a vote casting mechanism under thecontrol of another judge and arranged to be actuated by him to carrythose rods that have been pushed in by the voter, still farther inwardto actuate the counting mechanism, and automatic means whereby the judgein charge of the rod releasing devices for the locking mechanismcompletely controls the vote casting mechanism after one vote has beencast, so that the judge in charge of the vote casting devices isprevented from casting the vote more than once. The arrangement is suchthat after the vote has been cast by one judge, the other judge actuatesthe device for releasing the locking mechanism and then the vote castingmechanism and all the push rods automatically move to their initialposition ready for the next voter to take his turn at the machine, whilethe locking mechanism also automatically returns to normal position inreadiness to automatically lock and hold in partially pushed-incondition those rods that are pressed upon by the voter in indicatinghis choice of candidates.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a machine of thisgeneral character, which will be accurate and safe in operation, whichwill preclude to the greatest possible degree any tampering with themachine, which will be composed of a comparatively few parts consideringthe necessary move ments of a machine of this character and themultiplication of such movements for the various candidates or offices,which will be durable and not liable to get out of order and which willbe efficient in operation to record 1 the votes cast so that at theclosing of the polls, the complete results may be at once apparentwithout the necessity of any computation.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in a machine of thischaracter, an imroved arty crank, by which the voter will be able tovote the full party ticket at one operation, and which is so arrangedthat the voter may subsequently scratch the ticket if he so desires. Anda further object of the invention is to provide an improved arrangementof push rods particularly applicable for use in those States havingminority representation laws, for legislature or the like.

With these and other objects in view as will more fully appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain con structions,arrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter described andclaimed.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and alsoto acquire a knowledge of the details of construction of the means foreffecting the result, reference is to be had to the followingdescription and accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved voting machine. Fig. 2 is avertical sectional view thereof. Fig. 3 is a similar view looking intothe machine from the side opposite to that illustrated in Fig. 2. Fig. 4is a horizontal sectional view. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view ofsome of the interior parts of the machine. Figs. 6 and 7 are detailsectional views of one of the counters. Fig. 8 is a detail perspectiveview of one of the push rods and some of its adjoining parts. Fig. 9 isa detail sectional view illustrating the lever locking device for thevote casting mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates the casing of myimproved voting machine, the same being of any desired construction ordesign, so long as it forms a suitable support and housing for themechanism.

2 designates the base of the casing and 3 the front thereof, said frontbeing preferably opaque and being designed to receive the names of thevarious tickets and candidates thereon, the said names being arranged inhorizontally extending series with respect to the same oflice.

Within the casing 1 is arranged a frame work comprising a plurality ofvertical standards or posts 4, in two vertically extending series spacedhorizontal beams arranged apart from each other near the rear of theframe work one series of beams being desigand the other series 5 and1nter1nenate (hate cross bars 6 which are supported at their ends. intwo of the vertical standards or posts 4.

Horizontally extending push rods 7 are mounted to slide in the front 3of the casing and in the beams said push rods projecting out beyond thefront, and helical springs 8 are coiled around said push rods and bearagainst the beams 5 and against the adjustable collars 9 on the pushrods, whereby said springs tend to hold said rods at the outward limitof their sliding movement. The collars 9 may be held in differentadjusted positions by set screws or the like as shown. The number ofthese push rods 7 is of course to be determined by the size of themachine and the number of candidates and offices to be voted for, andaccording also to the other questions to be voted upon, such asreferendum questions or the like. Each rod 7 is provided near its rearend with two pins extending upwardly and spaced from each other, one pindesignated 11 being preferably higher than the pin 12 beyond it. Eachpush rod is further provided between said pins 1]. and 12 and the frontof the casing with a beveled lug 13 which in the present instance isformed on or preferably integral with the adjustable collar 9. The lugs13 in the present instance extend upwardly from the push rods, and theirbeveled ends face toward the rear. Coacting with the push rods 7 is avertically extending series of horizontal lock shafts 14 each of whichis arranged above and contiguous to one of the horizon tally extendingseries of push rods 7. Each lock shaft 14 is provided with a series ofbeveled lugs 15 which extend downwardly into thepath of movement of thelugs 13 as the individual rods are pushed in. At one end, each lockshaft 14 is provided with a weighted arm 16 tending to swing it in adirection so that its lugs 15 will point downwardly. Each lock shaft 14is provided at its other end with a crank 17, and a push rod releasingframe 18 composed of upright spaced apart bars 19 and cross pins 20, isarranged to coact with the cranks 17, the said cranks being inserted attheir ends through. the frame, every one underneath a cross pin 20, sothat when the frame is moved downwardly the lock shafts 14 will berocked about their longitudinal aXes in a direction to turn the lugs 15rearwardly and upwardly out of the path of movement of the lugs 13 onthe push rods 7.

It will be seen that the frame 18 acts only upon the cranks 17 in onedirection and that when said frame is raised, each one of the lockshafts 14 may be rocked independently of the others by the contactbetween the lugs 13 and 15 when a push rod is pressed inl l l l wardly,while when said frame 1.8 is moved downwardly all of said lock shaftswill be moved simultaneously in the direction above indicated.

21 designates the actuating rod for the releasing frame 18 and 21designates a handle for said actuating rod.

21 designates a spring arranged in some manner to rock the shaft 21 in adirection to hold the frame 18 at the upper limit of its movement. Abell crank 22 is fastened. upon the actuating rod 21., and one end ofsaid. bell crank is connected to the lower end of the frame 18 The otherend or arm of said bell crank 2 is connected bymeans ofjointed links 23to another bell crank 24 which. is mounted in a bearing upon the baseplate 2 to turn in a horizontal plane as indicated. in the dinavings. Alink 25 is connected to one end. of the bell crank 24 and a leverlocking device 26 is connected to the link 25 and is mounted to slide inbearings 27 on the base 2. The lever locking device 26 .is composed. oftelescoping sections 28 and 29, a spring 30 beingprovided to cause theautomatic extension. of said sections with respect to each other andsaid extension, as well as the retracting movement of one section withrespect to the other section are limited by means of a pin 3] working ina slot 32. The outermost section 29 of this lever locking device 26 isbeveled. as indicated at 33, the bevel facing the front of the casing asshown. 7

A vertically extending series of horizontal vote casting shafts 34 ismounted in suitable standards at the rear of the frame work and each ofsaid vote casting shafts is arranged above and in proximity to ahorizontally extending series of push rods 7. Each shaft 34 is providedwith a series of fingers 35, one for each of the push rods of thatseries, and cranks 36 are secured to one end. of the shafts 34 and areconnected together by means of a bar 37. By this means, all of theshafts 34 are caused to move simultaneously or to gether in bothdirections and. at all times, and to effect the movement of the shaftsone of said shafts, in the present instance the lowermost one, isprovided with a handle 38. The said shaft that carries the handle isalso provided with a latch arm 39 and a guide arm 40 movable on a guidebracket 4].. 42 designates a spring tending to carry the handle 38rearwardly and to effect the rocking of all the shafts 34 about theirlongitudinal axes in a direction to carry their fingers 35 into ahorizontal position. In this position the said fingers are above theplane of movement of the outermost pins 12, and below the planes of theupper ends of the innermost pins 11. lVhen the vote casting shafts 34.are rocked so as to carry their fingers 35 downwardly the said fingerswill lie below the plane of the pins 12 and it will be evident from theforegoing that when any one of the push rods 7 is pressed inwardly (thefingers j 35 being then in a horizontal position), the inward movementof said push rods will be limited by the contact of the higher pins 11with a finger 35. Furthermore, when the push rods 7 are pressed inwardlywith the lugs 15 extending downwardly, the lugs 13 will press upon thelugs 15 and. rock the shafts 14 until the two lugs pass, whereupon theshafts 14 will assume their normal position 1 and maintain the push rodsin a partially pushed-in condition.

In the normal position of the shafts 14 and. their actuating handle 21the bevel end 33 of the section 29 of the lever locking device 26projects into the path of movement of the latch arm 39 movable with thevote casting I shafts 34. As the push rods 7 are moved inwardly toeffect a partial traverse, as before described, being then locked by theshafts 14, the fingers 35 of the vote casting shafts 34 will then liewithin the space between the pins 11 and 12 of those rods that have beenthus pushed in and locked. Hence it will be seen that by themanipulation of the handle 38 to move it in one direction, the fingers35 of the vote casting shafts 34 may be swung downwardly and rearwardlyin a vertical plane and by contact with the outermost pin of those rodsthat have been partially pushed in will push said rods farther inwardly.

This farther inward movement of said rods effects the actuation of thecounting mechanism, as will be hereinafter more fully de scribed. Viihen the handle 38 has thus been moved to rock the shafts 34 in onedirection, the latch arm 39 will be carried rearwardly and ride upon andpass the beveled. end 33 of the lever locking device 26 and as soon assuch latch arm passes the said beveled end, the spring 30 will force theyielding section 29 of the lever locking device outwardly again andthereby hold the lever securely locked. By this arrangement, the judgemanipulating the handle 33 to cast the vote by effecting the actuationof the counting mechanism cannot record another vote until the judge atthe opposite side of the machine has thrown the lever locking device 26out of the path of movement of the latch arm 39. As the arrangement issuch that this withdrawal of the lever locking device 26 is alwayseffected simultaneously with the release of the locking mechanism forthe push rods 7 and effects the consequent outward movement of the pushrods 7 to their initial position, it is manifest that the machineprecludes any possibility of the judge at the vote casting side of themachine recording more than the actual number of votes cast.

A party crank 43 is provided for each chine. Said crank may be providedwith a latch handle or similar handle 43" and in the present instanceeach of said cranks is con l party to be voted for by means of themastituted by a bell crank lever, pivotally mounted in a bearing in thefront 3 of the casing. The push bar 44 is pivotally connected to theinnermost end of each p arty crank and laterally extending pins 45project from the push rods and are designed to be actuated by the pushbar, so that when the party crank is rocked it will effect simultaneousinward movement of the push rods designating the candidates of oneparty.

In describing the practical operation of so much ofthe mechanism as hasbeen now set forth, we will assume that the machine is arranged torecord the votes in a presidential election, in which, the governor of aState and the lieutenant governor are also to be voted for, as well asrepresentatives for the legislature or for the Congress of the UnitedStates, said representatives being voted for on the minorityrepresentation plan, and it will be assumed also that a question ofparty policy is to be voted for as a referendum to the people, the votebeing indicated by yes or no. We will assume also that two politicalparties are being voted for, one being designated the Reds and the otherthe Blues, and in this connection I desire it to be understood that inactual practice I propose to have the buttons of the push rods for oneparty differently colored from those of the other party, so as to assistthe illiterate in exercising the franchise. \Vith the above assumption,the machine will be provided with six horizontally extending series ofpush rods, described as follows: The uppermost series, which are two innumber will be designated respectively by placards or panels indicatingthat one is to record the votes for the presidential electors of theReds and the other for the electors of the Blues. The row or series nextbelow, also two in number, will indicate that one push rod is to recorda vote for the Red" governor and the other for the Blue The next will ina similar manner indicate the votes for lieutenant governor, and thenext two rows which may be three, four, five or any desired number each,are arranged with the candidates for, say the legislature of the State,such arrangement being after the pattern known as the minorityrepresentation plan. For instance, we will assume that John Doe andRichard Roe are two of the cadidates of one of the parties and that thevoter may cast either one and one-half votes for John Doe and one andone-half votes for Richard Roe or three 'votes for either John Doe orRichard Roe. To effect this choice, Does name and Roes name occur twice,each having two push rods one in each of the two horizontal rows orseries for the legislators. By this arrangement the voter may vote forboth of these candidates by pressing in Does push rod on one row andRoes push rod on the other row. Or, if the voter desires he may cast allof the three votes to either one of these candidates which he prefers,by pushing in, say, Does push rod in both of these two horizontal rows.He may afterward change any vote for legislators. For instance, if hehas cast one and one-half votes for Doe and one and one-half votes forRoe and subsequently changes his mind and desires to cast all three ofthe votes for Dec, he will push in the other Doe rod and this will havethe effect of permitting Roes push rod to come out again, because thelock shaft 14 will be rocked by the Doe push rod that has just beenactuated and this rocking movement will manifestly release the Roe pushrod that has been pressed inwardly. The bottom row or series of pushrods, in the present arrangement, represents the referendum, and twopush rods are employed one for yes and the other for no. At the extremeleft of the machine is a vertically extending series of push rods, eachof which is provided with a button containing the words No Vote. By thismeans a voter may omit voting for anyone or more offices that he seesfit.

The machine is preferably arranged behind a screen or in a screenedbooth and two judges are employed one at the left of the machineconsidered from the front, and one at the right of the machine. Thesejudges are preferably screened from each other and from the voter. Afterthe voter steps into the booth, he may either pull the party crank forthe Reds or the Blues according as he desires to vote and may then pushin the individual buttons for the legislators and for the referendumeither yes or no. As soon as he has pushed in the number of push rodsfor the various offices, (the said rods being locked in their pushed incondition by the lock shafts 14) he may signal to the judges by anelectric bell or the like and then withdraw from the booth. The signalbeing heeded by the judge at the right of the machine, this officialwill then move the handle of the vote casting shafts forwardly whichwill carry the pushed-in rods backwardly in operative engagement withthe counting mechanism to cast the vote. This movement of the handle ofthe vote casting shafts, will, as before described, carry the latch arm39 past the lever locking device 26 and will effect the locking of thelatch arm 39. The vote having thus been cast the judge at the left ofthe machine will swing his handle 2] forwardly which will carry thelever locking devices 26 out of the path of movement of the latch arm 39and. allow the handle 38 to be pulled backwardly by its spring while atthe same time this movement of the handle 21 at the left of the machinewill rock the lock shafts 14 and effect the release of all the push rodsthat h ave been pushed in. The machine will 110w be in readiness for theneXt voter.

By the arrangement of the party crank and the push rods, it is evidentthat a party ticket may be voted by means of the crank and thatafterward the said ticket may be scratched because, after the crank hasbeen operated to push in a certain number of rods at the same time anyone of these rods may be released and come out again by actuating theindividual complemental rod of the other party. The no vote push rodsare not provided with counting mechanism, in the preferred arrangementof the machine.

I11 those embodiments of my invention in which it is desired tocandidates to fill the same office, such as county commissioners orsupervisors ofthe .alms house or the like, those push rods that arearranged for such voting are provided with toothed lugs 69 n'ieshingwith pinions 68 on revoluble shafts 67. Each shaft (57 also carries atone or both ends another pinion 67 meshing with a rack 70, and the rack70 is mounted to slide vertically in a guide 71. The rack is provided.with sockets 72 in any one of which a regulating pin 73 may be placedsaid pin working in a slot 74 in the guide. By this arrangement, the pinmay be adjusted to contact with the upper end of the slot 74 just assoon as the allotment of votes has been cast. For instance suppose thatthree candidates are to be elected to hold one office. The regulatingpin 73 is then so arranged in one of the sockets 7 2 on the rack 70 thatit will contact with the up ward end of the slot just as soon as threepush. rods have been pressed inwardly. This connection is effected bymeans of the pinions before described, for it will be seen that as each.rod is pushed in, movement will be im parted to the pinions 68 andpinion 67 and this will cause the rack to move u nvardly step by stepuntil the pin 73 strikes. Furthcr movement of the rack, and consequentlya further inward movement of any of the push rods is then automaticallyprevented. The push rods that are provided with these regulating devicesare mounted preferably at one side of the casing and are locked andreleased by the same mechanisms that are provided for the other pushrods before described. I11 Fig. 1 they are shown as the two verticalrows at the eX- treme right of the machine, there being six push buttonsin each row.

I11 addition to the actuating mechanism described, my improved machineembodies counters 46, there being one counter provided for each pushrod. In the present instance the counters 46 are mounted upon supportingbeams 47 and counter actuating rods 48 work through said beams. A pawlbracket preferably U shaped as shown and designated. 49 is secured tothe rearmost end of each rod 48 and preferably a guide pin 49 cast votesfor several Q of the first pawl until said pawl arrives oppo site therecess 66 in said rim, whereupon the pawls will all be allowed to moveupwardly and the next pawl, that has been up to this point held out ofengagement with the inter mediate disk will be allowed. to engage witsaid intermediate disk and effect a single movement thereof to recordthe tens. While this is being recorded, it is obvious that the firstdisk is moved around one tooth and upon the next retreat of the pawls,the largest pawl will be taken out of engagement with the recess andinto engagement with one of the ratchet teeth to continue the revolutionof the first rim counting the units. In this way it is evident that thefirst disk may count up to ten, at which point the intermediate diskwill register one turn, the unit disk will then be again automaticallyactuated to make a complete revolution up to ten when the intermediatedisk will be given another partial revolution to record another ten andso on thereby counting the units and tens up to ninety-nine. At thispoint the two recesses of the unit disks and the tens disk will bothregister with the highest pawl and the next pawl respectively therebyallowing both of these pawls to rise sufliciently to permit the lowestor third awl to effect one movement of the hundreds disk, and in thisway the counters as herein described and shown may count up to ninehundred and ninety nine. It is obvious that thousands, tens ofthousands, and so on may be counted by merely adding the disks.

As the counting disks may be brought back to the zero points very easilyand quickly, their advantageous arrangement from a mercantile standpointis at once ap parent, especially when it is considered that ordinarilyseveral hundreds of these counting disks will be employed in anoperative structure.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. In a vote casting machine, the combination of a push rod arranged fora definite traverse and adapted to be pushed in for a ortion of itstraverse by the voter, means for locking said push rod at such point,independently operable means for completing the traverse of the pushrod, counting mechanism arranged. to be actuated by said completion ofthe traverse of the push rod, and means for releasing said rod.

2. In a voting machine, the combination of an automatically retractedpush rod ar ranged for a definite traverse and adapted to be pushed inby the voter for a portion only of its traverse, means for preventingthe fur ther actuation of the push rod by the voter, means forautomatically locking the push rod at such point, independently operablevote casting mechanism adapted to release passes through the beam tohold the bracket from revoluble movement in its reciprocating action. Aspring 52 tends to draw the bracket against the beam 47 and to returnthe parts to their normal position. Each counter actuating rod is soarranged with respect to the rearmost end of its respective push rodthat, as shown in Fig. 2 the manually operated inner movement of thepush rod to its locked position will bring the rear end of the push rodup against the forward end of the counter actuating rod, but will impartno movement to the latter. When the judge at the right of the machine,however, moves the push rod still farther in a rearward direction. it ismanifest that the counter actuating rods for those push rods 7 that havebeen manually operated by the voter, will be moved rearwardly and thisrearward movement of such actuating rods effects the revoluble movementof the counting disks to record the vote. The specific arrangement ofthese disks will now be described.

The pawl bracket 49 carries a spindle 50, on which a pawl frame 51 ishinged and around which a spring 52 is coiled so as to carry the pawlframe upwardly or in a direc tion toward the counting disks. 53, 54, and55 designate pawls of which there is one for each counting diskemployed, and said pawls are carried at the outer end of the pawl frame51, and are of different heights. That pawl to the left looking towardthe rear of the ma chine, is the highest pawl, the intermediate pawl isshorter, and the pawl to the right is the lowest pawl of the three.

56 designates a spring latch which is carried by the pawl bracket 49 andits frame with a pin 57 designed to take into a notch 58 in the pawlframe so that any set or sets of pawls for any one or more counters maybe held out of operative relation to the counting disks.

In the bracket 59 secured to the beam 47 a set of counting disks 60 ismounted, and in the present instance there are three of these disks foreach counter, but it is evident that any number may be employed. Eachdisk is provided with a revoluble rim 61 and each rim is formed in itsinner wall with a series of notches 62. Springs 63 are mounted insuitable slots in the body portions of the disks and detent pawls 64 arepressed upon by the springs into engagement with the notches so as toact as brakes for the disks after they have been actuated, whereby toallow the pawls to be retracted preparatory to an advance and positivemovement, without turning the disks backwardly. Each disk 60 is providedin its revoluble rim 61 with a series of ratchet teeth 65 and with asingle recess 66. By this arrangement of parts, the reciprocation of thecounter actuating rod back and forth will effect the intermittent motionof one disk or rather the rim thereof by means 1n, counting mechanismadapted to be actuated by the push rod upon its said further inwardmovement, and means for releasing said rod.

3. In a voting machine, the combination of an automatically retractedpush rod arranged for a definite traverse and adapted to be pushed in bythe voter for a portion only of its traverse, means for preventing thefurther or subsequent actuation of said push red by the voter, means forautomatically locking the push rod at such point, ind ependentlyoperable vote casting mechanism adapted to release said limiting meansto push the rod farther in, counting mechanism adapted to be actuated bysaid further inward movement of the push rod, means for releasing saidrod, and means whereby the said releasing means locks the vote castingmechanism after a single actuation thereof.

4. In a voting machine, the combination of a rod adapted for actuationby the voter, means for automatically locking said rod after actuationby the voter, counting mechanism, vote casting mechanism arranged to actupon said rod to cause the actuation of the counting mechanism by therod, means for automatically locking the vote casting mechanism after asingle actuation of the same, and means for releasing said rod, the saidreleasing means being arranged to also release the locking means of thevote casting mechanism.

5. In a voting machine, the combination of a plurality of horizontallyextending series of automatically retracted push rods, said rods beingindependently movable one from the other and being adapted to be pushedin i by the voter, a series of lock shafts arranged ,l

said limiting means to push the rod farther horizontally one inproximity to each horizontal series of push rods, said lock shafts beingprovided with lugs and the push rods being provided with lugs coactingwith the lugs of the shafts, means tending to maintain said shafts withtheir lugs in the path of movement of the lugs of the push rods, saidmeans permitting the shafts to be rocked by the lugs of the push rodswhereby said lugs may pass their coacting lugs and thereby lock the pushrods in a pushed in position, means connected to all the said lockshafts for rocking the same simultaneously in a direction to releasesaid push rods, and means for recording the votes indicated by the rodsthat are pushed in.

6. In avoting machine the combination of a plurality of horizontallyextending series of automatically retracted push rods, said rods I eingindependently movable one from the other and being adapted to be pushedin by I the voter, a series horizontally one in proximity to eachhorizontal series of push rods, said lock shafts being provided withlugs and the push rods be of lock shafts arranged ing provided with lugscoacting with tl ie lugs ol the shafts, means tending to maintain saidshafts with their lugs in the path of move ment of the lugs of the pushrods, said means permittingthe shafts to be rocked by the lugs of thepush rods whereby said lugs may pass their coacting lugs and therebylock the push rods in a pushed in position, each lock shaft beingprovided with a crank, a releasing frame adapted to move said cranks inone direction only, and means for actuating said frame, and forrecording the votes of those push rods that have been pushed in.

7. In a voting machine the combination. of a plurality of horizontallyextending series of automatically retracted push rods, said rods beingindependently movable one from the other and being adapted to be pushedin by the voter, a series of lock shafts arranged horizontally one inproximity to each hori zontal series of push rods, said lock shaft beingprovided with lugs and the push rods being provided with lugs coactingwith the lugs of the shafts, means tending to maintain said shafts withtheir lugs in the path of movement of the lugs of the push rods, saidmeans permitting the shafts to be rocked by the lugs of the push rodswhereby said lugs may pass their coacting lugs and thereby lock the pushrods in a pushed in position, each shaft being provided with a crank atone end, a releasing frame consisting of spaced bars and cross pins, thebars straddling said cranks the cross pins engaging with said. cranksand adapted to move said cranks in one direction only, means foractuating said releasing frame, and means for recording the votes beenpushed in.

S. In a voting machine, the combination of a push rod arranged for adefinite traverse and adapted to be pushed in a portion ofsuch traverseby the voter, means for automatically locking said push red at suchpoint, means for releasing said. push rod, means for automaticallyretracting said. push rod, vote casting mechanism operable independentlyof the locking mechanism, counting mechanism, means whereby the votecasting mechanism will cause the completion of the traverse of the rodand a consequent actuation of the counting mechanism, and means wherebythe rod locking mechanism will lock said vote casting mechanism after asingle operation thereof.

9. In a voting machine, the combination of a push rod arranged for adefinite traverse and adapted to be pushed in a portion of such traverseby the voter, means for automatically locking said push. red at suchpoint, means for releasing said push rods, means for automaticallyretracting said push rod, vote casting mechanism operable independentlyof the locking mechanism, counting mechanism, means whereby the vote ofthose rods that have casting mechanism will cause the completion of thetraverse of the rod and a consequent actuation of the countingmechanism, means whereby the rod locking mechanism will au tomaticallylock the vote castingmechanism after a single operation thereof, andmeans whereby the rod releasing mechanism will automatically release thevote casting mechanism.

10. In a voting machine, the combination of a push rod arranged for adefinite traverse and adapted to be pushed in a portion of such traverseby the voter, means for automatically locking thepush rod at such point,

3 vote casting mechanism operable independently of the rod lockingmchanism, counting mechanism, means whereby the vote casting mechanismwill cause the push rod to complete its traverse and actuate thecounting mechanism, a latch arm embodied in the vote casting mechanismand a lever locking device adapted to be automatically inter- )osed inthe return path movement of such latch arm, said lever locking devicebeing ar ranged for actuation by the rod locking mechanism.

11. In a voting machine the combination of a push rod adapted to beactuated by the voter, a counting mechanism, vote casting mechanismarranged to actuate the counting mechanism for a rod that has beenpushed in, said vote casting mechanism being operable independently ofthe voter, a locking mechanism arrange to lock the pushed in rodautomatically, said locking mechanism being manually operable to releasesaid rod and ar ranged at one side of the machine while the vote castingmechanism is operable from the opposite side of the machine, means forautomatically locking the vote casting mechanism after a singleoperation thereof, and means whereby the manual operation of the rodreleasing mechanism will also release said vote casting mechanism. 12.In a voting machine, the combination of a rod arranged for a definitetraverse and in by the voter for a means for automatportion of suchtraverse,

rod at such point adapted to be pushed ically locking such push i suchpush rod l spaced apart pins, counting mechanism, a vote castingmechanism including a shaft i provided with a finger designed to enterthe spaces between said pins and to contact with one of said pins todraw the rod to the l completion of its traverse, and to effect theactuation thereby of the counting mechanism.

13. In a voting machine the l of a rod arranged for a definite traverseand adapted to be pushed in by the voter for a portion of such traverse,means for locking the rod at such point against withdrawal, countingmechanism, said rod being provided with two pins one of which is higherthan the other, the higher pin serving as a stop to iimit the inwardmovement of said rod at the portion of its traverse as set forth, and avoting casting mechanism including a shaft provided with a fingeradapted to contact with the other finger of said rod and complete thetraverse of the rod into operative connection with the countingmechanism.

14. In a voting machine the combination of counting mechanism includingan actuating rod therefor, a push rod arranged for a definite traverseand adapted to be pushed in by the voter until its inner end is incontiguous relation to said actuating rod, means for limiting the inwardmovement of said push rod by manual actuation, and a vote castingmechanism arranged to complete the traverse of said 10 end ofcombination rod and to cause tl the latter to push the actuating rod ofthe counting mechanism.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

OSCAR E. SEIBEL. [L s] IVitnesses:

JuLrUs KorLus, Janus H. HUDsoN.

being provided with two

